Sunday, 5 January 2014

Sunday Baking

Before Christmas one of my ex-colleagues posted a Buzzfeed on my Facebook wall of lots of amazing cookie recipes, with a request for a batch of one of the recipes. Now, I don't have her address so I made some trite comment and moved on, but then I thought I could post them to her at work and it would still be a surprise. Also, I am a complete sucker for anything turtle. So, I have these to go in the post tomorrow.

Beat the butter with the sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolk, a tbsp of the milk and the vanilla; beat until combined. Sift in the dry ingredients and beat again until combined. Chill the cookie dough until it's cold - I left mine in there for an hour but it defo needed longer.

Meanwhile, toast and chop the pecans. Toasting them is probably unnecessary because you're going to put them in the oven anyway, but I love that toasted pecan flavour and this gave me a full-on hit.

When you're ready to bake, divide the cookie mixture into about two dozen balls, shaping them with your hands. I found the best way to do this was to roll the dough into two long sausages and divide each one into 12 pieces. Lightly beat the egg white and then roll the cookie dough balls in it. Using a pastry brush here helps. Then toss them in the chopped pecans until well coated (this bit was a lot of fun). Place on a greased baking sheet and press down with your thumb or some kind of implement so they are flattened and a bit indented. Bake at 180 degrees for 12-14 minutes, until they are lightly browned.

Meanwhile, throw the unwrapped toffees in a small saucepan with the rest of the milk. Heat gently, stirring regularly, until the toffees are melted and the sauce is smooth. You probably don't want to let it boil.

When the cookies are ready, remove them to a wire rack. Don't worry if the indents are no longer visible - this is the time for the trick like a brandy snap. Press your thumb or the same implement into the indents while the cookies are still hot and pliant (wait for them to cool a little unless you have teflon hands and don't press too hard) to remake the hollow. When cooled and crisp, spoon in as much of the caramel as will fit.

Melt the chocolate with the groundnut oil. Put in a plastic bag and snip off the corner, then drizzle across the cookies.